Kiss the Ground Board
Adrienne Callandrello
Stephen Pfahler
David Lewis
Patrick Brown
Evan Harrison
Larry O’Connor
Lanette Phillips
Robert Raich
Matthew Wiggins
Becky Cassel
Board Chair
Adrienne Callandrello
Adrienne Callandrello has spent the last 20 years of her professional career as a marketing, social media and communication professional for brands like iheartradio, The Vitamin Shoppe and Travel + Leisure Co. She is a passionate storyteller with a B.A. in Journalism and Media Studies, Philosophy and Psychology from Rutgers University. During her time in the health and supplement industry, Adrienne worked closely with various organizations to help bring nutrition, fitness and supplement education to those around the world, including Guatemala and Peru through a vitamin distribution program with The Vitamin Angels. She is an entrepreneur at heart, but also loves to give back to others. Her passions lie in health education, wellness, music, writing, photography, travel and nutrition.
Secretary
Stephen Pfahler
Stephen has served as a Superior Court Judge for State of California in Los Angeles since 2006. The L.A. County court system is the largest county court system in the world. Prior to that, he practiced law for over 16 years, representing public and private sector clients in land use and civil rights matters, and was recognized as a “Super Lawyer.”
Stephen also serves as the Director of Regenerative Agriculture for the Santa Ynez Ranch, where he leads a team working towards the Regenerative Organic Certification. He passionately believes that regenerative agriculture is superior to sustainable agriculture because it is not just maintaining the status quo but actually improving the soil, plants, and environment.
He is the Chairman of the Board for Chapter 3, having served in that capacity since its inception. Chapter 3 is a non-profit, dedicated to virtuously disrupting the business of agriculture through regeneration and to educating the public about the importance of soil health.
He is also an Adjunct Professor of Public Policy and the Law at the University of Southern California.
Stephen is a certified life coach, studied Positive Psychology through the University of Pennsylvania, and strongly advocates for lawyer health and well-being. He is publishing his first book in August 2022 entitled, The Whole Truth for Lawyers: A Complete Guide to Flourishing in Your Life and Career.
Board Treasurer
David Lewis
David Lewis has been the CEO or founding partner of 5 companies, one a 600-person family business, three successful startups in the areas of executive search, consulting, and financial project execution, as well as a venture-capital-backed software development firm. His last startup scaled to a 300-person consulting and executive services firm in seven and a half years. During his tenure, the firm worked with companies ranging from Fortune 500 companies to venture-backed startups. He has deep functional expertise in the creation and implementation of accountability systems, planning, finance, talent acquisition and development, and key executive coaching. David holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Economics from Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
Board Director
Patrick Brown
Patrick Brown is an accomplished American, hailing from Henderson, NC. Raised on his family farm, he’s the 4th generation heir with deep roots in cultivating tobacco, soybean, and wheat, guided by his late father, Rev. Dr. Arthur A. He served as an Agriculture Advisor for USDA and government agencies in Afghanistan while managing Brown Family Farms. Passionate about regenerative agriculture, Patrick pioneers holistic practices on his ancestral land in Hecks Grove, Warren County. His mission at Brown Family Farms is to offer carbon-neutral products like industrial hemp, herbs, and organic vegetables, providing medicinal solutions and sustainable alternatives. An influential speaker, Patrick addresses conferences nationwide and founded the Rev. Dr. A. A. Brown Foundation to mentor future farmers. With 16 years of federal service, including Defense Intelligence Agency roles, Patrick is now Nature for Justice’s first Director of Farmer Inclusion, leading the USDA-funded Soil Inventory Project. Patrick’s leadership, humility, and commitment to sustainable agriculture make him a true visionary, dedicated to transforming farming for a brighter future.
Chief Executive Officer
Evan Harrison
Evan Harrison is the Chief Executive Officer at Kiss the Ground. Evan, a digital music and media pioneer, helped transform iHeartRadio (formerly known as Clear Channel Radio) into a multi-platform content creation company as the President of Digital. After spending a decade at BMG Music, he joined a handful of his BMG colleagues at AOL, where together they created groundbreaking music programs such as AOL Music’s “Sessions” and “First Listen,” which debuted hundreds of new songs by the most prominent artists in the world, putting AOL on the map as a legitimate innovator in the music space. He also held leadership roles at Univision, Townsquare Media, and as a music festival producer. Evan has been recognized in Advertising Age’s “Entertainment A-List,” Details “50 Most Powerful Men under 38,” and New York Observer’s “Power Punk” list and profiled in Billboard, Businessweek, Crain’s, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Reuters, USA Today, Variety and The Wall Street Journal.
Evan’s love for the ocean is what first sparked his crusade and interest in environmentalism, which developed further when he joined the board of Surfrider, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the world’s oceans, waves, and beaches.
Board Director
Larry O’Connor
Larry O’Connor is the founder and chief executive officer of Illinois-based OWC, a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company. In 2011, Larry was a 40 under 40 business leader by Dealerscope. Last year, Larry was awarded Best CEO by Comparably and was the recipient of the prestigious Ellis Island Honor Society Medal of Honor Award. He is a technologist skilled in marketing, product development, software, architecture, and more. Under Larry’s leadership, OWC has demonstrated dynamic growth in each of its 30+ years of operation. Starting as a one-person business in 1988, Larry has provided the leadership and vision to establish OWC (aka Macsales.com) as a leading provider of technology products and services. The OWC Corporate Headquarters, which opened in March 2008 is currently 60,000SF of operating space and 28 acres of adjacent land set aside to be protected as the culmination of the forward movement. Larry’s “Green” building design principle of energy efficiency, protection of natural resources, and lowered pollution emissions have demonstrated a commitment to environmental responsibility that matches OWC’s commitment to customer service and product quality. In 2008, Other World Computing was named one of the Top12 Green-IT companies by Computerworld Magazine for the innovative, environmentally responsible design of the OWC’s corporate headquarters building.
Board Director
Lanette Phillips
Lanette Phillips has enjoyed a wide-ranging and successful career across the spectrum of entertainment, social impact, and politics, producing award-winning content for world-famous artists, top brands, and political heavyweights.
Board Director
Robert Raich
Rob co-founded Spears Abacus Advisors in 2007. In addition to his work at Spears, he continues as President and Chief Investment Officer of Abacus and Associates, Inc., a single-family office. Rob especially enjoys working with families of multiple generations concerning family dynamics, legacy planning, and philanthropy.
Rob began his career at Price Waterhouse LLP, where he served on audit teams for a number of Fortune 500 corporations. Rob joined Abacus & Associates Inc. in 2001 and was named President and Chief Investment Officer in 2002.
Rob received a BS in Accountancy with honors from Arizona State University in 1992 and an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1998 (and he enjoys discussing the contrast of these schools). Rob is a past president and life trustee of Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn and a current board member of One Story, an independent non-profit literary publication. He lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and two daughters (one currently a freshman at Bryn Mawr College).
Board Director
Matthew Wiggins
Matt Wiggins is a poet. He sees the interconnectedness in the world and occasionally writes down his ideas and visions in the form of strategic plans or manifestos. Sometimes those writings become blueprints for activations in emerging sectors or industries. As a committed generalist with a focus on the health of ecosystems, he has created within the realms of mobile technology, renewable energy, industrial real estate, hospitality, healthcare, media, food, and government innovation. Matt is a founding board member for Kiss The Ground and is pleased with the exponential awareness of regenerative agriculture generated by the organization since inception. In 2019, he formed Intuition Capital to facilitate investments into opportunities that made intuitive sense.
Board Director
Becky Cassel
Born in rural Pennsylvania and raised on a small farm, Becky’s initial exposure to agriculture was centered on industrial farming methods and seeing one small farm after another fade away. Disillusioned with this model of agriculture, she instead focused her studies elsewhere, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and a Master’s degree in Systems Engineering from Penn State University. Becky then spent over a decade in the aerospace industry gaining a broad range of skills as a space vehicle manager, leadership development program manager, and in supply chain and operations management roles. She parlayed many of these experiences to her non-profit sector work where she served as a founding member of Energize Colorado supporting small businesses throughout the state, as a board member for a humane society, and as a fundraising analyst for a rural social and health organization.
During this time, while in a search for food that was healthier for people and the planet, Becky found herself coming back to her agricultural roots but with a new focus on regenerative agriculture. Becky has since spent time as a ranch hand on a cattle ranch, been the Operations Manager for Kiss the Ground, and currently serves as a board member for Guidestone Colorado, focusing on growing a vibrant agricultural future for central Colorado.
Becky is fortunate to call the Colorado Rocky Mountains home and enjoys adventuring, whether on foot, skis, or bike, with her husband and their two lovable dogs.
